At last night’s concert (thanks to everyone who made it out!), I recited a new poem to musical accompaniment. It’s called “A Love Poem For Ghosts” and, while some of you have seen it on my Facebook page or our YouTube page, I wanted to provide you with the back-story and the lyrics!

What if we never fell in love?

I was thinking about that question that couples always seem to ask each other a year or two into the relationship. “If things had been different, would we have ever known what we were missing? What if so-and-so hadn’t introduced us? What if you had been born three years earlier? Would we still have this connection?”

What if we fell in love?

I was thinking about this from the other direction, though. How many people in my life might I have connected with if some slight circumstance (distance, age, past decisions, present circumstances, etc.) had been different? Might there have been love between any of us, had it ever had the chance to be activated?

What if we we can find love without falling in?

Then I realized that this wasn’t necessarily a “what if” question. In so many cases, that love already exists–just not in the romantic sense which we normally picture. Maybe it’s a common interest, a kiss, a conversation, or just a passing glance, but sometimes, I think you can detect that connection. Even though two people might be separated by miles or years or circumstances or decisions, their hearts might not be that far apart.

I started collecting “love fragments” from throughout my life. I gathered everything that never amounted to a love song, but that I had wanted to say or meant to say to people but had failed to articulate. What I’ve enjoyed about this poem is that when I put all the disjoint pieces together, they actually form a story that isn’t only coherent, but is actually familiar–maybe it’s the story of each of those diverse little shards of love.

In another life, this would be so many “I love you”‘s, but for now, it’s my love poem for ghosts.

“A Love Poem For Ghosts”

I wish I had the words
That could make you understand.
I wish you could look at me
And see a better man.
Sometimes at night I wake
And lift up my arms,
Singing songs about your grace
To the beat of my heart.
When I hear your voice again,
My darkest days are saved
’cause every time you say my name,
You make me feel brave.
It’s been so long since I
Have watched the stars collide
Because the heavens could never dance
Like you did in my eyes.
There’re worlds between our lives
But lying here on the floor,
The distances between;
They don’t matter anymore.
There’re miles between our homes,
But if you pull me close,
Only inches between our hearts…
And our lips can bridge those.

Related

[…] …aaaaand just in case surgery goes poorly and this is the last you’ll ever hear from me, here’s a Love Poem For Ghosts (read the story behind this poem and why this might be actually be a poem about you in my blog entry: “A Love Poem For Ghosts“): […]